Canonet ql17 giii

[Isaiah Dominguez]

I just purchased a canonent gii which battery do I use with the mr-9 adapter? Sorry if this a dumb question I just have no idea.

 

[Isaiah Dominguez]

I also seen something about a wein 1.35 v zinc air battery with no special adapter, is that a better option?

 

[AgX]

Zink-Air cells have a high idle drain after opening their seals. They then will go dead within weeks. Thus they are no good choice for a camera that one only will use now and then. One can try to stop this process be resealing the cell.

 

[Chan Tran]

I have a Canonet QL17 GIII and I use 625 alkaline battery and it works fine. If you want the correct battery then get this.
https://mercurycell.org/
It's the real thing.

 

[BrianShaw]

I just purchased a canonent gii which battery do I use with the mr-9 adapter? Sorry if this a dumb question I just have no idea.

386 cell is what goes in the MR-9 adapter.

Which adapter are you using? Some do not reduce the voltage and others do. The voltage reducing adapter is optimal.

 

[Isaiah Dominguez]

386 cell is what goes in the MR-9 adapter.

Which adapter are you using? Some do not reduce the voltage and others do. The voltage reducing adapter is optimal.

To be honest that's the one I seen recommended. I haven't purchased it just looking for some recommendations on ehat to use. I read that a 1.4v hearing aid battery , 1.35v wein cell, also a Duracell 675. And I have no idea which to use lol

 

[Isaiah Dominguez]

I have a Canonet QL17 GIII and I use 625 alkaline battery and it works fine. If you want the correct battery then get this.
https://mercurycell.org/
It's the real thing.

Can you send me the link for the 625 also

 

[Isaiah Dominguez]

386 cell is what goes in the MR-9 adapter.

Which adapter are you using? Some do not reduce the voltage and others do. The voltage reducing adapter is optimal.

But I seen a mr-9 adapter on Amazon that I was going to purchase

 

[MattKing]

But I seen a mr-9 adapter on Amazon that I was going to purchase

Be careful, because there are examples out there that use "MR-9" in the description, but are actually the different type of adapter that only converts the smaller, shorter lived hearing aid batteries.
A true MR-9 adapter should include voltage conversion for longer lived silver oxide batteries like a 386 cell.
An alkaline cell may fit and cause the meter to respond, but most meter circuits will only be accurate for a portion of the alkaline battery's life, because alkaline batteries don't supply stable current and voltage.
IIRC, your Canonet is one of the majority of cameras where the meter isn't consistently accurate with an alkaline cell.

 

[Isaiah Dominguez]

Be careful, because there are examples out there that use "MR-9" in the description, but are actually the different type of adapter that only converts the smaller, shorter lived hearing aid batteries.
A true MR-9 adapter should include voltage conversion for longer lived silver oxide batteries like a 386 cell.
An alkaline cell may fit and cause the meter to respond, but most meter circuits will only be accurate for a portion of the alkaline battery's life, because alkaline batteries don't supply stable current and voltage.
IIRC, your Canonet is one of the majority of cameras where the meter isn't consistently accurate with an alkaline cell.

How do you feel about the wein 1.35v since it's the correct voltage ?

 

[AgX]

If you want the correct battery then get this.
https://mercurycell.org/
It's the real thing.

The OP is located in the USA. Thus only as a side note:

In the EU import of these batteries even by private person is illegal.

 

[reddesert]

You probably know this: the Canonet only needs the battery to run the light meter. It will work in manual mode without the battery. The meter is active only when you turn the aperture ring to "A", so to do metered manual you have to turn the ring to A and then back to a numbered aperture.

The original battery was a PX625 mercury battery. There is a PX625A alkaline battery that is the same shape, but a slightly higher voltage (1.5v vs 1.35v). This won't hurt anything, but it will offset your meter readings by maybe 0.5-1 stop. The PX625A is not trivial to find anymore, but B&H sells it, for example.

There are various kinds of "MR-9" adapters. Some of them just adapt an LR44/SR44 or maybe a 386 battery (the 386 is a little thinner) without changing the voltage (so same issues as the PX625A). Some of them use a diode to drop the voltage a little.

Any Canonet is 40+ years old by now and the meter sensitivity may be off. Whatever battery solution you pick, you should test the meter against some other trustworthy source (like another camera, light meter, or sunny-16) in bright and dim situations to see if your meter is reliable in both. You can make up small offsets by setting to a different ISO film speed.

 

[MattKing]

How do you feel about the wein 1.35v since it's the correct voltage ?

I prefer the adapters that are designed for the hearing aid batteries. Hearing aid batteries are the same zinc air technology and provide the same voltage as the Wein batteries. The hearing aid batteries are also relatively very inexpensive.
Yes, you do have to replace them regularly, but it is easy and inexpensive to keep lots of hearing aid batteries as backups - just remember that when they are used up, you need to take them out of the adapters and then re-use the adapters.
In the past, when I've had multiple cameras and meters that were designed for the 1.35 volt mercury 635 cells, I've used a mix of MR-9 adapters with silver oxide cells and the lower cost adapters with hearing aid cells. The type of use that I made of those cameras and meters determined which got which.
I got my hearing aid battery adapters through Jon Goodman at JGood21967@aol.com. I recommend Jon highly.

 

[AgX]

I prefer the adapters that are designed for the hearing aid batteries. Hearing aid batteries are the same zinc air technology and provide the same voltage as the Wein batteries.

Wein stated that their cells have a different composition, yielding a lower voltage. They also got different openings.

 

[MattKing]

Wein stated that their cells have a different composition, yielding a lower voltage. They also got different openings.

I'm not sure that they state that their zic air cells are different than hearing aid zinc air cells.
The attempts to extend life by reducing the size of the openings are probably useful.

 

[Isaiah Dominguez]

I prefer the adapters that are designed for the hearing aid batteries. Hearing aid batteries are the same zinc air technology and provide the same voltage as the Wein batteries. The hearing aid batteries are also relatively very inexpensive.
Yes, you do have to replace them regularly, but it is easy and inexpensive to keep lots of hearing aid batteries as backups - just remember that when they are used up, you need to take them out of the adapters and then re-use the adapters.
In the past, when I've had multiple cameras and meters that were designed for the 1.35 volt mercury 635 cells, I've used a mix of MR-9 adapters with silver oxide cells and the lower cost adapters with hearing aid cells. The type of use that I made of those cameras and meters determined which got which.
I got my hearing aid battery adapters through Jon Goodman at JGood21967@aol.com. I recommend Jon highly.

Thank you I'll be reaching out but which battery do you recommend with his adapter for this camera?

 

[MattKing]

Jon Goodman's adapters for hearing aid batteries that I have are the right size for 675 batteries.
That type of adapter is simple - it just provides the required fit for the 625 battery compartment and the (smaller) battery size it is designed for.
Some people have success doing the same thing with aluminum foil.

 

[Chan Tran]

Can you send me the link for the 625 also

I give you the link to Amazon but any 625A would fit exactly. The voltage is higher at 1.5V and it drops gradually as you use it but it works fine with my QL17. And they are cheap.
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=a625+bat...239064&tag=googhydr-20&ref=pd_sl_24r5sychn9_e

 

[AgX]

I'm not sure that they state that their zic air cells are different than hearing aid zinc air cells.
The attempts to extend life by reducing the size of the openings are probably useful.

They stated both, and they still keep it up.

 

[Chan Tran]

You probably know this: the Canonet only needs the battery to run the light meter. It will work in manual mode without the battery. The meter is active only when you turn the aperture ring to "A", so to do metered manual you have to turn the ring to A and then back to a numbered aperture.

The original battery was a PX625 mercury battery. There is a PX625A alkaline battery that is the same shape, but a slightly higher voltage (1.5v vs 1.35v). This won't hurt anything, but it will offset your meter readings by maybe 0.5-1 stop. The PX625A is not trivial to find anymore, but B&H sells it, for example.

There are various kinds of "MR-9" adapters. Some of them just adapt an LR44/SR44 or maybe a 386 battery (the 386 is a little thinner) without changing the voltage (so same issues as the PX625A). Some of them use a diode to drop the voltage a little.

Any Canonet is 40+ years old by now and the meter sensitivity may be off. Whatever battery solution you pick, you should test the meter against some other trustworthy source (like another camera, light meter, or sunny-16) in bright and dim situations to see if your meter is reliable in both. You can make up small offsets by setting to a different ISO film speed.

I found using alkaline battery my camera meter is reasonably accurate (perhaps it may not be accurate with the right battery). I am confident that it would works fine but when I use the QL17 I always not use meter of any kind. It's more fun that way.

 

[Huss]

I use this adapter/voltage converter. Works perfectly and you can use long lasting regular off the shelf batteries with it:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/130646083632